1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for displaying a plurality of contents according to the order of metadata added to each content.
2. Description of the Related Art
Nowadays, in addition to personal computers (PC) and dedicated storage devices, some devices, such as cameras for shooting content, also have storage functions. Some devices, such as disk recorders, store broadcast content. Further, a display device that displays the content stored in the device as a list is also available. In some display devices, a list of all content is displayed as text, for example, by the name of the content.
There has also been proposed a list-view display method, in which a content summary, such as a thumbnail of the content or a partial reproduction of a characteristic portion of the content, is displayed as an image or video. In the displayed list, the contents are displayed in various orders, for example, by date, file name, and so on; therefore, with such a display method, the content summary is displayed in an easily comprehendible manner and effectively in terms of the searchability of content.
Additionally, there is a method in which contents are arranged and grouped for easy searching. In such a case, the contents assembled into a group are indicated by a single icon or the like. The icon of the content group is made of, in many cases, an image of a representative content in the content group, or an image of some or all of the contents.
In these circumstances, to make searching for content easy when displaying the contents by a list, there has been proposed a method in which various sets of metadata are added to the contents, and the contents are arranged in the display order determined based on the metadata. The contents are arranged by, for example, date, the Japanese syllabary, or alphabetical order.
However, in the case where a user wishes to find a desired content while browsing contents, the user wishes to reach the desired content by moving through the contents as quick as possible. When a user searches for a target content while viewing contents in this fashion, high-speed in scrolling is important for visual searching of content.
Additionally, demand for browsing content on a television screen or the like has also been increasing, and there is demand for operations to be able to be carried out with a remote controller having only arrow keys or limited keys instead of freely operable operation units such as keyboards or mouses. That is, it has become increasingly important for operations to be able to be easily carried out with a small number of keys when a user is browsing contents by scrolling as well.
In one conventional technique, when continuous scrolling is carried out, only a number showing what number the content is in the total number of contents is displayed, and under usual circumstances, contents and thumbnails are displayed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-223632).
In another technique, the scroll speed is increased by a scroll speed acceleration signal by shortening the time of the motion interval between contents, and the scroll speed is decreased by a scroll speed deceleration signal by extending the time of the motion interval between contents (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-293675).
In another technique, scroll up/down keys are provided, and the scroll speed is changed depending on the number of times these keys are depressed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-67059).
Additionally, in recent years, digital home electronics such as digital cameras, digital video cameras, digital video disk recorders, and flat-screen televisions are rapidly becoming popular. Users are able to create and browse content data such as still pictures, videos, and the like by using these digital home electronics.
Users can also browse document data, presentation data, and graphic data created using PCs on televisions by linking personal computers (PCs) with set-top boxes or video game consoles.
Simple operations are required when browsing contents on the aforementioned digital home electronics, and a method called scrolling, where one or more contents are displayed in sequence, is generally used.
However, with the increasing capacity and decreasing price of storage media, the number of these contents keeps increasing, and therefore an efficient system for browsing an enormous volume of contents through the aforementioned scrolling is in demand.
The following technique has accordingly been disclosed. Upon reading out and displaying an image stored in a storage medium, a scroll bar is displayed by pressing a control button for a certain period of time. Then, time-series positional information for all of the images currently displayed on the scroll bar is displayed, to show the time when the image currently displayed was shot (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-20209).
In another technique, upon displaying a certain display target, corresponding information associated with the display target is obtained, and the corresponding information is displayed in connection with a scroll bar that shows the relationships between all of the display targets that are to be displayed and the display target that is being displayed. A switch instruction of the display target is also obtained, so as to switch between the display of the display target and the display of the scroll bar (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-285471).
With respect to browsing document data, the following technique is known. A scroll control unit displays a boundary on a scroll bar based on the width of the page section, and page numbers are displayed in each area on the scroll bar sectioned by the boundary (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 05-282123).
However, the above-described conventional techniques have the following problems.
When controlling the scroll speed to an optimal speed to reach a target content, it is difficult for users to control the scroll speed so as to allow the contents to be visibly displayed while also scrolling at high speed.
Also, when switching the hierarchy level of the contents to skip and display the contents when scrolling so that the contents can be visibly checked, operations for switching the hierarchy level are necessary, and the scroll speed cannot be accelerated by a simple operation.
Furthermore, not knowing at which point the scroll accelerated, fine control of the scroll speed for approaching the target content cannot be performed with ease.
Also, when a scroll is carried out for a target content and the target content is bypassed or the scroll is stopped before the target content, a fine adjustment of the scroll speed to reach the content from that point cannot be performed with ease.
Additionally, it is not easy to visually check the acceleration, deceleration, stopping, and so on of the scrolling upon switching the hierarchy level of the contents.